Not to deny that the XT has its moments of insanity or impenetrable logic, but a few words of praise for when it does a big job properly...
Just finished a 6000-mile trip (cage, not bike, unfortunately) and my XT performed almost flawlessly, using a mix of pre-planned and A to B routes. I say “almost” because a few times it decided we were off-route when we definitely were not. I'm very sure this was not due to poor satellite reception, as we were out in the clear. It seems to be caused by the XT's lack of "tolerance" for finding itself even a very small amount off the purple stripe. Where my 660 would allow deviations of a dozen feet or more, the XT sometimes panics when the stripe and the real world differ by only a few feet. But with it set to ask before recalculating, this was not a problem.
Using pre-planned routes, there was the usual amount of minor glitches, all easily dealt with using tips and tricks discussed here, especially having the desired track displayed to catch any un-planned route changes. But routing A to B, the XT was reliable and very useful.
We made constant use of the traffic feature and I would estimate its accuracy to be around 80 percent. It never changed our route, instead offering an optional detour with an estimate of time saved (but in the high-traffic areas we were using A to B, not pre-planned) and major bonus points for saving us 30+ minutes on the way home by creating a complex but clever detour around a horrendous, miles-long traffic jam on I-90. Love the weather and traffic features.
So if anyone is reading this prior to making a buying decision, know that while the complaints here are legitimate, most if not all can be easily dealt with and the unit performs quite well.
-dan
